Industry Mine

Industry Mine is a strip mine in McDonough, Illinois, owned by Freeman United Coal Mining Company until 2007, and then Springfield Coal.

On December 11, 2009, the Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network, and the Environmental Law and Policy Center filed a notice of intent to sue Freeman United Coal Mining Company, regarding repeated and excessive violations of the Clean Water Act at their strip mine near Industry. The group found that Freeman had over 300 documented exceedances of their NPDES permit at the mine since July, 2003. Joyce Blumenshine of the Illinois Sierra Club said: "According to Freeman Coal's own reports, the Industry mine has broken the law hundreds of times in the last five years, with over sixty violations through August of this year. If every one of those violations were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Freeman Coal would be forced to pay several million dollars in fines. Our goal is to see them comply with the law and operate the mine in a responsible way that is safe for local residents."

In May 2010, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a complaint against Freeman United and Springfield Coal with the Illinois Pollution Control Board after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency referred the mine’s water permit violations for enforcement action. The complaint states that both Freeman United and Springfield Coal “caused or allowed the discharge from the Industry Mine of iron, manganese, sulfates” for over five years in excess of permit limitations into various area waterways, including Willow and Grindstone creeks.

In October 2010, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) made a tentative determination to issue an NPDES permit to discharge into waters of the state and has prepared a draft permit and associated fact sheet for Springfield Coal.

Mine Data

 * MSHA ID: 1102668
 * Operator: Springfield Coal
 * Controller:Brian J. Veldhuizen
 * Location: 4440 Ash Grove, Suite A, Springfield, IL 62711
 * GPS coordinates:
 * Production:
 * Type of coal:
 * Mine type: Strip
 * Equipment:
 * Number of employees:
 * Recoverable Reserves:

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External Articles

 * "Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Public Hearing on their proposed renewal of the Industry Mine NPDES water permit" Sierra Club, April 12, 2011.